


Always, But Only For You

by Oakmilk



Category: Naruto
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Angst, Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Light Angst, M/M, Sasuke Retrieval Arc, They Do Care For Each Other, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Uzumaki Naruto is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 16:43:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14773356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oakmilk/pseuds/Oakmilk
Summary: Sasuke leaves and Naruto can’t help but chase him.





	Always, But Only For You

**Author's Note:**

> I tried writing this one a little differently, more bluntly and with less focus on Naruto’s actual thoughts and more on his feelings.

When Naruto heard Sasuke had left the village he wanted to laugh.

Wanted to laugh because he knew that Sasuke would never actually leave, never actually join Orochimaru and leave everyone behind.

Leave him behind.

But he did.

When Sakura grabbed his hands at the edge of the village, eyes broken and tone pleading because _if anyone could bring him back, it’d be you, Naruto_ , he smiled and assured her he’d drag him right back, not paying attention to how his heart sped up at the words and how the heat from Sakura’s palms seemed to spread to the rest of his body and settle in his chest.

He’d bring Sasuke back. He was sure of it.

——-

First it was Choji, then Neji, then Kiba, and eventually Shikamaru too, and with each friend left behind Naruto felt an increasingly heavy sense of dread weigh on his back.

But none of that mattered, because soon they would all be home and so would Sasuke.

He felt sick as the man (monster?) in front of him ripped a bone from his own flesh, shoulder contorting and convulsing before snapping back into place.

Felt sick as he watched his shadow clones be taken out in droves, eyes flickering between what seemed like a one sided battle and the smoking coffin that he knew encapsulated his friend.

He felt like he was going to vomit when Sasuke emerged from the coffin, taking one look at the failing Naruto with clouded eyes before turning away and disappearing into the silent woods.

———

He stood atop the statue carved out of the mountainside, his heart carved out as well, hands clenched and chest heaving as he glared at his friend, the once familiar and handsome face distorted into an ugly sneer that Naruto hated with all of his being.

He hated Sasuke’s now perverse laugh, something akin to the one he heard leave the snake-like man’s mouth when Jiraiya and Tsunade fought against him.

It was funny how all of that seemed so long ago, yet the memories of the long nights he and Sasuke spent mastering chakra control together seemed like just yesterday.

They still had so much left to learn, and Naruto made another silent promise to experience it all with his best friend.

His best friend who had just cast him into the raging surf beneath them.

He let himself sink, arms extended towards the fading sky as the water swallowed him into their murky depths.

He felt helpless.

Alone.

He didn’t want to be alone again.

He didn’t want to lose Sasuke.

He couldn’t.

———

He felt someone slick back his water soaked hair with a cool palm that lingered on his forehead, and was vaguely aware of strands of hair brushing his face as a head leaned over his own.

The person murmured something that was incomprehensible to his hazy mind and he felt himself lose consciousness.

When he awoke next he was thrown over a familiar back, wind whipping his cheeks as they bounded through the trees.

“Where’s Sasuke?” he mumbled, head stubbornly refusing to move so he could look around for the boy. When he got no answer from Kakashi aside from the tensing of his broad shoulders and the stiffening of his neck, he felt what little confidence he had left slip away and be lost within the depths of the forest.

He allowed himself to also slip away into the now welcoming darkness of unconsciousness. He had no reason to be awake now anyways.

——-

The sound of beeping stole him away from his dreamless sleep and awoke him into his new nightmare.

He looked to his right, head lolling against the pillow as he stared up at the monitor that steadily recorded his heart rate.

With the piercing pain in his chest he wondered why it wasn’t flatlining.

With a soreness that infected his whole body he pulled himself into a sitting position, shoulders hunched and forearm twinging from the IV lodged in there. He looked at the clear fluid coursing through it and into his veins and meditated on how much trouble he’d get in if he just ripped it straight out.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a deep voice coming from his window and stretched his neck to see out of it.

Jiraiya.

He listened as rage steadily built up in him while the old man told him about the Akatsuki, about training, and about how Sasuke was a lost cause.

He was silent for a moment after Jiraiya finished, threat of keeping him prisoner in the village if he insisted on going after Sasuke stuck in his mind. But he had already made his decision long ago.

He would chase after Sasuke the rest of his life if he had to.

——-

The nurse wanted him to stay in bed or at the very least use a wheelchair, but Naruto was never one for listening anyways.

That’s how he found himself climbing up the steps to the hospital roof, body aching and muscles screaming in protest with every step he took. His bandaged hand dropped from the railing as he emerged into the cool autumn air, early morning sunlight filtering into his eyes and temporarily blinding him.

With slow and shaky steps he dragged his way over to the wire link fence, gaze casting over the building tops of Konoha. A lone bird’s cry rang out, something sad and melancholic in it’s tone.

The pain in the rest of his body had faded to merely irritating aches, yet the one in his heart was just as strong as the day he came in.

He gripped at the wire, tugging the sharp metal between his fingers until he felt pinpricks of blood well up from underneath the years worth of callouses.

He pulled his hand away after a moment and stared at it before diverting his gaze up to one of the water towers kept on the hospital roof. There was a small hole in it, jagged metal splitting from the sides, but Naruto knew that the back was much, much worse.

The water tower across from his had much more damage at the front, metal charred slightly. It still couldn’t compare to the destruction his rasengan had caused.

Destruction to more than just the metal.

Naruto grabbed at the front of his hospital robes, fisting the coarse fabric and holding it at the middle of his chest.

He turned his attention back toward Konoha’s skyline and dropped the loose fabric, a hint of a smile making its way across his face.

He’d bring Sasuke back. He was sure of it.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am a firm believer that Sasuke would’ve stayed in the lead village had chidori been proven stronger than rasengan. I really think that was the moment he snapped and truly began to believe the Leaf Village couldn’t help him attain power, which is why I included the line: “destruction to more than just the metal.”
> 
> I realized that might be confusing if you didn’t know my reasoning/thought process behind it haha.


End file.
